Coal-based jet fuel ready for take off

Energy producers are finding alternative fuels might make more sense. Perhaps we will see some startups on Coal-based jet fuel soon.

Jet fuel derived from at least 50% coal and comparable to Jet A or military JP 8 has successfully powered a helicopter jet engine.

"Because the fuel is 50% derived from coal, it could reduce our use of imported petroleum for this purpose by half," said Dr. Harold H. Schobert, professor of fuel science and director of Penn State's Energy Institute. "We have shown in tests that the mix can go to at least 75% coal."

Schobert said they can produce the fuel, called JP900, by using light cycle oil, which is a petroleum byproduct, and coal-derived refined chemical oil, a byproduct of the coke industry. The researchers mix the two components and add hydrogen. When distilled, jet fuel comes off as a distillate. The process can occur in existing refineries with some retrofitting, and small amounts of the leftover components will feed into various portions of the petroleum stream. The lighter portions will go to the pool of chemicals that make gasoline, and the heavier ones go to the diesel or fuel oil streams.

Nontraditional fuel production such as this will be demanding more engineering and processing, 70 dollar pluss a barrel fuel make such projects more feasable.

BP Signs up Emerson as Primary Automation provider

BP anounced that Emerson will its primary DCS provider for its three U.S. refinerys.

Emerson Process Management, a business of Emerson, and BP International Ltd., one of the largest oil and gas producers in the United States, announced a contract naming Emerson as the main automation contractor for the replacement of aging process automation systems at BP's three largest U.S. refineries.

The contract covers 18 units at three BP U.S. refineries -- Whiting, Ind., Texas City, Texas, and Carson, Calif. Combined, these facilities refine about 1 million barrels of crude per day, or about 7 percent of total U.S. refining capacity. The upgrades are part of BP's ongoing commitment to improving facilities in North America.

Under the contract, new digital automation and control systems will be installed in 18 different production units at these refineries, resulting in improved efficiency and reliability in the refining process. Critical units to be upgraded include fluid catalytic cracker units, cokers, ultracrackers and alkylation units.

An Opportunity for Emerson may exist in BPs ambitious plan to covert coke to enough hydrogen to power a 500 Megawatt power plant. The plan includes pushing the byproduct Carbon Dioxide gas into old oil wells to premenently trap the greenhouse gas and stimulate more oil production.

Oil giant BP and Edison International said Friday that they would spend $1 billion to build a one-of-a-kind hydrogen power plant in Carson to supply the region with badly needed electricity without polluting the air.

Slated for completion in 2011 next to BP's Carson oil refinery, the 500-megawatt facility would be the world's largest hydrogen-fired power plant, churning out enough electricity to serve more than 300,000 average homes, executives said at a news conference that drew Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and other state officials.
But what sets the project apart is the unique way it would make electricity by using the refinery's leftovers while capturing the resulting carbon dioxide, the primary greenhouse gas linked to global warming, so the environment isn't harmed, the executives said.

BP America Inc. President Ross Pillari called the planned facility "the cleanest and greenest power plant in the United States." Alan Lloyd, secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, told the gathering that the plant would be so nonpolluting that "the only emissions are water vapor."

A very green project for the folks in California.